A Brewery to Call Your Own

Everybody needs a few idiosyncrasies that allow for distinction among peers and good conversations. And one of those things is a drink — or more specifically, a beer. With so many different folks in Birmingham, it’s impossible to ascribe a specific beer that represents personality, intellect and social status to each. In the interest of simplification, I’ve taken a look around and distilled the myriad of Magic City souls and my suggested brewery of choice for each down to the following.Our Young Professionals are filled with potential alongside the energy of a relatively recent entry into the workforce and post-college social life. Connections are being made and careers are being forged. The beer for a people like this should be dynamic, bold and genre bending, all qualities to match the enthusiasm of our city’s many young professionals. In this instance, I can think of no better beer than the sublime and ever-evolving ales of Stillwater Artisan Ales. These brews display all the youthful optimism, forward-thinking and brawn needed to bolster any newly minted 20-something still getting comfortable in a tailored suit. Then there are the Artists. Their art takes many forms, but many of the sensibilities are shared. A desire to create, a need for stimulation and an eye for the unique and beautiful in ordinary life characterize artists across the city. Beer for these people should reflect that unique worldview.I’m throwing my hat in with the beautifully crafted, yet humble beers of Anchor Brewing. Simple yet refined, Anchor’s beer is crafted with intention and a directed sense of flavor, impact and culture from the label artwork to the feel of a bottle in hand to the flavor and linger of the beer itself. Finally, we arrive at the Visionaries. These folks brainstorm, fundraise, network, sweat and bleed new life into the communities of our city. They have a vision for a future Birmingham that has pieced together the fragments of its past into a stronger, unified and vibrant entity. I would pick a prominent national brewery for our visionaries, but we all know they’d rather be snuggled up to the bar at one of our city’s many accomplished breweries. So hats off to the people working to make Birmingham a better place to live, love and grow. I hope Birmingham never stops churning out locally grown brewhouses for your happy imbibing.